Drivers urged to turn on headlights during daytime for safety

Experts have suggested motorists to switch on headlights during the day as the practice is believed to reduce the risk of accidents by 30 percent.

The Council of Engineers reported that Thailand currently ranks first in the ASEAN region in terms of the number of road accidents, with a death rate of 38.1 per 100,000 people. The Kingdom is also among Asian countries considered most vulnerable to road accidents.

To alleviate the problem, the council has launched a project to raise public awareness of the importance of turning on headlights during the day or installing daytime running lights on vehicles. With the lights on, it is said that visibility could increase from about 670 meters to 1,400 meters, thereby lowering the chance of accidents by as much as 30 percent.

In a bid to promote this safety measure, the council is coordinating public relations activities with both public and private agencies and is looking to propose that the measure be made a regulation to be enforced during long holidays, such as New Year, when a large number of people embark on road trips across the country.